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Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Charles Dickens Month -- A Slapdash post

I've been ill all weekend, some sort of upper-respiratory funk, and I'm ashamed to say that this will be a post not very rich in content. I did want to put up SOMETHING so that all you folks who are on the ball will have a place to post links. By the way, I hope to visit more of your posts this week.

I have had much adventuring with Charles this week:

I'm deeper into Our Mutual Friend and it is getting so good!

I finished watching David Copperfield with Hope. She liked it and has asked if we can watch Our Mutual Friend. Funnily enough, she calls it Our Material Friend which could be applied to several of the characters in the book.

I've been working on a Charles Dickens display at the library. One display case is all about the novels. The other display case is filled with items from our Rare Books Gallery. As soon as it is done I promise to share pictures!

Sam gave me the best anniversary gift, Charles Dickens: A Life by Claire Tomalin. I cannot wait to dig in once I've finished Our Mutual Friend.

I hope you enjoy the Tomalin biography more than I did - I didn't finish it. The Dickens' Fur Coat...book sounds interesting though! I hope you start feeling better! http://lindseysparks.blogspot.com/2012/01/dickens-life.html

I really need to start Martin Chuzzlewit but I keep putting it off. I'm just not excited about it somehow. OMF sounds much more interesting! And I got the Tomalin bio after Christmas (since no one would buy it for me) but I want to wait until I've read more of the novels, I have fear of spoilers.

Hope you feel better. I'm late again, but I'm enjoying looking at what other people are reading. I've just read Dickens' American Notes - here's the link to my past http://chriscross-thebooktrunk.blogspot.com/2012/01/shipsstorms-and-sea-sickness.htmlI really enjoyed this, and it was an example of his 'non-novel' writing, although there are similarities in style.

As with other commenters here, I also struggled with Tomalin's Charles Dickens biography--not because it was poorly written, but because I didn't want to know much about how rotten he was in his personal life!

Participating In...

150 Classics in 5 Years

My Classics Club List

The Trollope Project

Reading 50+ Works by and About Trollope in 10 years (2013-2023)

2013 Reading Goals

Goal #1: Read 36 booksGoal #2: 7 will be read-alongs, GoodReads group reads, and other collaborative reading projectsGoal #3: 5 books will be re-readsGoal #4: 12 books will be library/interlibrary loan booksGoal #5: 12 books will be books I ownGoal #6: Complete the TBR ChallengeGoal #7: 18 of the books must be written prior to 1950Goal #8: 5 books by or about Anthony Trollope

2013 Reads

Cheerful Weather for the Wedding by Julia StracheyThe Wars of the Roses by Alison WeirThe Law and the Lady by Wilkie CollinsHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by JK RowlingEating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer